Branded Mage

by D. W.

  Thad watched as Alden danced in, scoring a slight blow on Ballard’s arm leaving a thin light blue mark indicating a shallow cut. He watched the match quite proud, not of Alden’s sword work, but his newest enchantment.

  Eloen had made a comment that it was hard to tell when someone was hit during a heated match, so Thad had come up with the idea of a magic residue imprint left by the swords strike. If it was shallow, it would only be a thin line, but a full force connection would cause the whole area to glow brightly.

  Thad continued to watch Alden dance in an out of Ballard’s reach, trying to score a critical hit while dodging Ballard’s powerful yet controlled attacks. Alden was able to score a number of hits and even a nice hit to Ballard’s side, but was finally taken down by a massive cross attack that caught his squarely in the ribs sending him flying a good four feet.

  Eloen helped Alden to his feet, laughing as everyone else congratulated Ballard on his win. After making sure Alden was alright, Eloen stepped to the center of the open area and announced the next pair. It would have been simple for her just to announce the names but she had a flair for picking out new and unusual nicknames for everyone.

  “Next up we have Darryl the dancing dullard and Thaddeus the maddening mage.” Chuckling a bit at the new names, Thad stepped toward the makeshift sparing circle to meet Darryl.

  At the beginning of the battle, Thad concentrated on his defense trying to find Darryl’s rhythm. The man was a good fighter and the flow of his blades was smooth, but he still wasn’t skilled enough to make both blades move independently. There was always a small lag between when his right and left sword made an attack, albeit, one so small it was hardly noticeable.

  Picking up the rhythm, Thad increased the speed of his blows hoping to get Darryl to make a mistake. The main thing to remember was patience when fighting someone who was skilled. Rush the fight or make unnecessary risky moves and you would lose. Taking your time and waiting for an opening was the key to winning.

  As Thad increased his speed, Darryl adjusted, moving his blades even faster until the dull thud of wood on wood echoed with every heartbeat. Thad was tiring quickly, but he didn’t let up. Seeing that Darryl’s face didn’t hold the same calm demeanor as it had in their last bout.

  His patience paid off when he noticed a small opening. Parrying Darryl’s double thrust, he quickly stepped to the side, slapping the two swords to the side and kicked hard into Darryl’s side spinning the little man and throwing him hard to the ground.

  When Darryl rolled onto his back, he was greeted by the poised point of Thad’s practice blade. For the briefest of moments Darryl’s jaw clenched and Thad though he was upset, but then the wiry little man let out a loud barking laugh. After helping his opponent to his feet, Thad went over to his companions to get his congratulatory pats on the back.

  After everyone was sufficiently warn down and sweating horribly, they all made their way down to a small stream off the road. Eloen didn’t wait for everyone to finish, but undressed and jumped in the water along with the rest of them. The first time she had done so caused Thad to nearly run from the water, but he had gotten used to her brazen attitude if not the sight of her bare body.

  Thad had fallen into a comfortable routine over the past few days, and was enjoying the company of the others. Unlike at the academy, everyone seemed to work together instead of competing against each other.

  As he had every night since they left Shiel, Thad pulled the sword he had gotten off the man in the capital out to inspect it. After a lot of testing, he learned the sword would absorb any direct effect spell cast towards it. The sword could also cut through any magical shield he could put up as easily as if cutting through air. It was obvious this weapon was made for the sole purpose of killing mages, but he wasn’t sure how it worked or how to reproduce it. Not that he wanted to, it would be stupid to make a number of weapons that were only effective in killing him.

  The sword had to have been made by a mage. It had a red gem for a core, and he figured the blade or the hilt was the body. The sword seemed simple in almost every facet, but whenever he sent his magic towards the gem to find out how the enchantment was formed, his power was just sucked away. The first time it had happened he almost forgot to close the conduit and the sword had nearly sucked him dry leaving him with a bad headache and a good lesson.

  For a brief moment, he thought of destroying the weapon, but couldn’t go through with it. It was a testament to the magic of a lost age and while he did not yet understand how it worked, he may be able to unlock its secrets one day.

  Sliding the sword back in the scabbard strapped to his side, he headed to the fire to join the others. He started to make his way to where Alden was sitting in the hopes of getting him to sing a few more of his crasser song, when Eloen waved for him to join her.

  “I see your finally coming out of your shell. Who would have thought the little mage was also handy with a sword?” Eloen said tousling his hair.

  “Magic is nice and all, but it’s hard to perform up close.”

  “I’ve wanted to ask, what’s up between you and the little princess?” Eloen asked in a slightly teasing tone.

  The question surprised Thad a little. Eloen had ribbed him a few times about the princess, but had never asked anything about their relationship. Looking down at the ground he started pushing a small rock around with the toe of his boot.

  “She’s my friend.” The words sounded a little weak even to him, but he didn’t know what else to say.

  Eloen let out a light giggle. “Just a friend, are you sure she knows that? She seems to have quite the crush on you.”

  “I don’t know. There is too much going on right now for me to really think of the future. Right now I consider her a good friend. Who knows what that will mean in the future? She is still young. She might find someone more to her liking in the future.”

  “That’s a very practical and dull way to look at things.” Eloen replied shaking her head.

  Eloen continued to tease him about the princess and what she called his overbearing innocence. He wasn’t sure what to think of the woman sometimes. Some days, she acted like they were the best of friends and others as if they were strangers. The rowdy woman was a mystery, but Thad still enjoyed his time with her. She was always open and carefree with what was on her mind. He wished he could share half of her spunky outlook on life.

  The night ended after their traditional round of stories. He still wasn’t allowed to take a turn at the watch, but the others no longer treated him like an outsider. The first two days they had double checked his horse and packs before and after the days ride. It had annoyed him more than a little, but when they learned that he wasn’t a completely useless burden, they stopped talking at him and started talking to him.

  The next morning, Thad woke early to the smell of Eloen’s cooking. At first he thought that the group would take turns on who was cooking, but Eloen seemed to enjoy the duty and was more than adequate at the task.

  The morning air was getting colder the farther they moved south. A light dusting of snow had covered the trees giving their leafless braches a light glow as the sun crested the horizon. While it was quite a lovely sight, it also meant that his horse blanket was stiff. Taking the lead of the others he placed his blanket next to the low burning fire as he ate.

  The wind picked up a bit as they rode and Thad drew his cloak tight around him in an effort to stave off the biting sting of the cold air. Alden spurred his horse and moved up to ride next to him.

  “We should have warned you, this time of year the air off the ocean keeps the air cold. We normally wear a thick set of wool underneath out clothing. When we get to the duchess’s estate I’ll see about having her seamstress whip you up a pair. I promise you you’re going to want them when we reach Southpass. Even during the heat of the summer the morning air keeps its bite.”

  “That sounds great Alden.” Thad said pulling his cloak even tighter around his shoulders as another gus
t of wind swept over him.

  “Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor?”

  Thad cocked an eyebrow. “Sure.”

  Alden scratched the back of his head, his face looking slightly embarrassed. “When we were at the palace, I heard of some of the swords and shields you made for the queens guard, and I was wondering if you could do that to mine. All the guys have been thinking about asking you, but it’s a little awkward. We also wondered if you could make something for the captain. We are always traveling and you noticed she cooks for all of us. Well, we were wondering if you could make her a pack that could hold more supplies without weighing down her horse. We can’t pay you all at once, but we could send you a little out of each pay.”

  Thad thought for a moment, the swords and shields wouldn’t be too hard, he had already done hundreds of them. The bag would be harder. He wasn’t even sure how to make one, but it was a good idea with lots of uses.

  “I don’t see a problem with it. We are all in this together, and I can only see a benefit to me with all of you better equipped. If you don’t mind, I could also strengthen your battle harnesses. The pack will take me awhile to figure out, but as soon as I do I’ll make it. As for the pay, don’t worry about it. I’ll just consider it my duty to the Queendom.”

  “Thanks bro, I’ll let the other guys know. When do you want our gear? I know you will have to have them to perform the magic on them. We all have extra equipment, but you know how it is. We don’t want to be without them for too long.” Alden said as the worry that had darkened his face was replaced by a large beaming smile.

  “I can do about two sets a night as long as it’s only one battle harness. I should have all the supplies I need in my saddle bags. So you will only be without them for the few hours it takes me to enchant each one.”

  “Ok bro, sounds good to me. I better get back to my post before the captain makes me pull guard duty all night.”

  Thad watched as Alden headed back to his spot at the rear of the formation. He thought it was pretty kind that they wanted to get Eloen a gift, even if it was one of a practical nature. He could try and expand the inside by connecting it with a sub-dimension like he did with the sending box. That would make it larger, but would also make it hard to be able to retrieve the items inside. He could have a seamstress make a bag with many inside layers, like a book. Each page would contain its own separate space. The actual location would be in a sub-dimension, but each section would only be the size of a regular bag. He couldn’t think of a reason it wouldn’t work, but most times he didn’t find out the problem until he tried it.

  That night he was able to get three weapons done, including that of Captain Eloen who he had personally approached for the honor of enchanting her gear. She had readily agreed with a slightly disturbing gleam in her eye. He had decided to do the battle harnesses when they reached the estates of the duchess, when the chance of attack was the lowest.

  The work was bland and boring. He longed to work on something new, but he didn’t have many resources at his command. The little he did have he needed to save in the chance they were needed at Southpass. He didn’t push himself to the point where his head hurt, knowing that at the moment it was more important for him to be awake and alert during their traveling than making magical weapons. The men had done without them for their whole lives a few more days wouldn’t hurt them.

  He did run into a small problem when attaching the cat eye gems to the weapons. The weapons he had the blacksmith make were designed with the gems in mind and had compensated for the change in the weight and balance of the swords, these did not. After a few tries, he added a second enchantment making the weapons magically balanced far beyond what even the expert craftsman could hope to accomplish.

  Before everyone retired from their campfire vigil, Thad presented Eloen her improved sword. She put the sword through a couple of routine exercises. “It’s perfect. It seems lighter and the balance is right on. I feel like I could swing it all day without getting tired.”

  “It will also stay as sharp as a razor without ever needing to be sharpened.” Thad said proudly.

  Eloen put her blade away and almost danced over to him and gave him a soft kiss on his cheek. “Keep showering me with such gifts and I’ll have to give you a better reward.”

  Thad blushed deeply as the others hooted and hollered at her comment. His heart pounding furiously as he made his way back to his bed roll, hoping that he could settle down enough to get some sleep.

  CHAPTER VII

  It was easy to tell when they started entering the lands surrounding the duchess’s estate. More and more farms started appearing and people began to gather around them waving to Eloen and her soldiers. Many people even called out to them by name. He didn’t know why, but it made him feel better toward Eloen that she was so well loved by the common people.

  After they had passed the fifth or sixth farm a large group of kids surrounded them hollering out for Ballard. The large man slid from his mount way too nimbly for a man of his considerable size.

  “Ballard, can you come play with us today?” a sandy-haired boy yelled out.

  Ballard picked up a small girl who looked no more than seven years old who had come up and grabbed hold of his leg. “I’m sorry kids, today I’m on business. We got a mage to deliver to the duchess if she’s home.”

  “A real mage, like in the stories?” the little girl in Ballard’s arms asked her eyes wide.

  “He sure is Kylee, and I bet a cute little lady like you could even get him to cast a spell or two if you asked nicely.”

  Slipping from Ballard’s arms, Kylee ran over to where Thad sat upon his horse, her face beaming brightly. “Mr. Mage would you pleeeeaaassseee do some magic?” The little girl pleaded.

  Looking down at the little girls face, he couldn’t find it in himself to say no. Not wanting to give the kids a poor show he raised his hands high in the air and started muttering nonsense words as he began to concentrate. Illusionary butterflies looking like flying rainbows started popping into existence around the children. At first their stunned awe held them into place but not for long, as they began to chase after the nonexistent creatures.

  Seeing the kids running and laughing brought a smile to Thad’s face. Looking around, he could see the gratitude in not only Ballard’s face, but in the rest of his companions as well. For the conclusion he brought all the butterflies together and then with a burst of light, a unicorn appeared standing tall and proud. The unicorn looked everyone over then dashed off into the distance.

  The kids jumped up and down around his horse laughing and begging for more. Luckily he was saved by Ballard, who informed the kids that they needed to reach the estate as soon as possible. The kids looked down until Thad promised to stop by and show off more tricks next time he was in the area.

  As they continued along the road, Eloen reined her horse up next to his. “That was a very nice thing you did.”

  “Did you see that girls face? I don’t think a demon could have refused her request.” Thad replied laughing lightly.

  Eloen gave him a gentle smile. “It was still a nice thing to do. The kids go to the school my aunt made for the local farm families. A few of them are orphans just like Ballard was. That’s why he spends so much time at the school when we are home. I think if he could, he would adopt half of them, but right now that’s not a possibility. Maybe if the queen can get some of her changes to become more accepted, one day he might be able to.”

  Thad covertly looked over to where Ballard rode at the front. He had a large smile, and his face was a bit on the dreamy side. He could understand some of the feelings of growing up without parents though in his case he had the mothers of the academy to look after him, and they had always treated him kindly.

  It didn’t take long for the duchess’s manor to come into view. It was only about half the size of the royal palace, but it had shining alabaster walls. Instead of a wall it had a large green hedge circling the entire building
making it very inviting from the outside.

  The main door led them to a large main hall that was richly decorated. The whole place was lit up by three large crystal chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. They were greeted by an older gentleman who bowed politely to Eloen.

  “Is her ladyship in?” Eloen asked the man in a demanding tone.

  “Yes lady Eloen, your aunt arrived home two days ago. If I recall correctly she should be up in her study working her loom.”

  Without another word Eloen walked up a double set of stairs followed closely behind by Thad and the rest of the group. After heading down a few hallways, Eloen led them to a moderately sized room filled with books and an assortment of odd objects.

  Lady Alysia sat in front of a large loom making what appeared to be a blanket. Setting aside a wooden piece wrapped in a brightly dyed yarn, Alysia turned to them smiling sadly.

  “I guess you heard the news auntie.”

  “Yes, and if young Thaddeus is with you, that means you’ve taken on the duty of protecting him while he’s at Southpass.”

  “We have. He could be the turning point in the battle, but that will come to nothing if he takes a knife in the back.” Eloen replied defensively.

  Alysia stood from her seat and used her hands to smooth the wrinkles in her light blue satin dress. “I’m just worried for you. I don’t plan to have to wear this mantle my whole life. I hope one day you will be ready to take over as duchess and stop gallivanting all over the Queendom looking for a little excitement.”

  Though neither woman raised their voice, it was easy to see there was tension between the two. When he had spoken to the duchess at the queen’s party, she had seemed proud of her niece, but now it looked as if she disapproved of her choice to be a soldier.

  Alysia walked away from her niece and greeted each of the soldiers under her niece’s command, then made her way in front of him. “Master Mage, it hasn’t been that long since we shared a meal and a good conversation, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would join me for a walk around the gardens. I’m not as young as I used to be, but a nice walk with a handsome young man is always welcome.”